Wanted: In America
by PurpleWrites
Summary: Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio are far from your ordinary robbers. They like to plan everything in a well-thought out manner, and get out with as much money as they can carry. After another successful robbery, they've decided it's time to step it up, and plan on robbing from the Big Guy himself, the President of the USA. But with more than just cops chasing them, will they succeed?
1. Big Plans

September 19, 2014  
9:54 PM

* * *

The doors to the café busted open, allowing the three men to escape into the darkness of the night.

"Somebody stop them!" yelled an old man as he watched the three criminals escape. "They stole all my money!"

"Kesesese, that was too easy. Right Toni, Francis?" laughed a man with strange white hair and gleaming red eyes.

"Don't say that, Gil!" teased a man with blonde hair. His indigo eyes glared at the other man jokingly. "You're going to jinx it~"

"Um, guys, I think he already jinxed it..." muttered a man with messy brown hair and green eyes. When they turned the corner, they came across several police cars and policemen blocking the streets. The three tried to turn back and run away, but the cops had just arrived and blocked their way as well. They were surrounded.

"Hands in the air, you three!" yelled one of the policemen. The three shared a glance at one another and smirked. They agreed and dropped their bag full of money. They raised up their hands, a sly grin on each of their faces.

"Admit it, we've finally caught you." Out from the crowd of policemen came a man with messy blonde hair under his police hat. His thick eyebrows drew away attention from his evergreen eyes. The man with the indigo grinned wider.

"Detective Kirkland~" he teased. "So nice to see you again." He dropped his hands and instead placed them in is pockets. He took daring steps toward the officer. The other cops were prepared to shoot, but Kirkland did not allow them. "When was the last time we met, Arthur?"

"The museum robbery in D.C.," Arthur replied shortly.

"Oh, yes. That was a fun one, right boys?" Francis turned to his friends. They too dropped their hand and nodded. He turned back to Arthur. "Too bad you had to be a kill joy and stop us."

"That's what officers do, you twat." Arthur raised his gun higher and pointed straight for Francis's face. "Now hands in the air so we can arrest you." Francis exchanged glances with Antonio, who nodded back slowly. Antonio slowly bent down. Arthur then aimed the gun at him. "Stop moving! Don't do anything!"

"I'm just tying my shoes, Senor Kirkland!" Antonio replied. "I can't go to jail with my shoes untied, _si_?" Arthur was reluctant, but he slowly pointed his gun back at Francis's face. Taking this as permission to continue what he was doing, Antonio settled his hands on the floor.

He moved his fingers across the grooves of the floor until he felt cold metal. It was a manhole cover. He dug his fingers into the gap between the cover and the street, trying to at least open a bit of the cover. Luckily, none of the other cops were paying attention to him. They were all to busy with Francis's act of small chit-chat between him and Officer Kirkland. When Antonio was finally able to lift the cover, he nudged an elbow to Gilbert's leg. Gilbert looked down at him. When he saw that Antonio was able to open the manhole cover, he smirked.

"Oi, Franny," he called out, catching the attention of Francis and Kirkland. "I think you should stop trying to convince him to let us go." Francis sneaked a peek at Antonio, and saw his hand under the manhole cover as well.

"You're right, Gilbert." Francis turned back to Kirkland, who was smirking as if he won. Francis smirked back. "_Au revoir,_ Arthur." And with that, Gilbert drew a smoke pellet from his sleeve and threw it at the ground. The entire area was shrouded in smoke. Francis backed into the smoke and went to follow the other two down the manhole, taking their bags filled with money with them. When the smoke cleared, the three criminals were nowhere to be found.

"Dammit," Arthur cursed, "they got away again."

**:::**

The three began running down the sewers, all with big smiles on their faces. "Kesesese, did you see the look on Artie's face? It was so unawesome!" Gilbert laughed when they finally stopped running. "And look at all this cash we got! The old man back at that café would sure be pissed at us right now."

"Mhm! That was an easy robbery!" agreed Antonio. "Wouldn't you say so, Francis?" When the other two turned to look at Francis, they saw the man looking at a flyer with interest.

"Did you guys hear about this? There's going to be a masquerade ball at the White House next month. The President is holding it for Halloween. The richest of the rich are going to be there!" The other two's eyes widened in interest. "Just imagine how rich we would be if we robbed all their pockets dry!"

"Wow, the White House," Antonio said dreamily. "It's every hacker's dream to break into that place..."

"Just imagine how awesome it would be if I, the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, wiped the floor with the President's personal guards!" the Prussian yelled excitedly. Suddenly, Gilbert's happy expression faded away in realization. "But Franny, this is the White House we're talking about. It's going to be our hardest robbery yet!"

"That's why we have a month to prepare," answered Francis. "Whatever we need to get to break in there, we get it _now_." Francis pointed to Gilbert. "Gilbert, what do you need to get us fully prepared to break into the President's lovely home?"

"Well," Gilbert began, "I'm gonna need new equipment. The White House is bound to have their top security on patrol that night. I'm going to need new gear..." He grinned. "Army gear."

"Excellent! I'm pretty sure we can get your equipment before the ball." Francis then pointed his finger to Antonio. "Toni, I'm guessing you need new equipment as well?"

"Of course!" the Spaniard said a little to excitedly. "The White House's security would be a problem for me to hack into, but if I could get some better hardware, maybe some army hardware," Antonio nodded to Gilbert, "I could hack into there. But if we were to steal from an army base, I'm still going to need a better computer than the one I have now."

"All right, it's settled. We'll rob some high-tech computer store to get Toni a new computer, then break into an army base and get you two new equipment to prepare us for the big plan," Francis explained. At first, all three of them agreed, but then a question came to mind.

"Hey, Franny, what do you need for our plans?" asked Gilbert.

"Ask me what _we_ need," Francis answered back.

"Okay, what do _we_ need?" questioned Antonio.

Francis smirked. "We're going to need new disguises of course."

**:::**

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid they escaped. However, to ease you of your troubles, I could answer every question you have about them." Arthur sat at the closed café with three other men sitting across from him.

The man in the middle had curly brown hair and golden irises in his eyes. The other two boys looked alike, but there were notable differences. Like for example, one boy was older than the other and had browner hair than the other's redder hair. They had different skin complexions, and different eye colors; one had green-brown eyes while the other had amber eyes.

"You damn tea bastard! You let them escape?!" shouted the boy with the green-brown eyes.

"Ve, Lovino, try to calm down," comforted the other.

"The hell I'll calm down! Feliciano, we just got robbed!" Lovino yelled back.

"Will you boys calm down?" yelled the man in the middle. The two did as they were told and calmed down. "As you were saying, Detective Kirkland, I would like an explanation as to who those three criminals are."

"Of course." Arthur pulled out three folders from his bag and placed them on the table. "These are their profiles. Please, help yourself to read them, Mr. Vargas."

"Please, no need to be so formal! Just call me Romulus." Romulus said, embarrassed. He did as he was told and looked at the three folders placed before him. "'Antonio Carriedo', 'Francis Bonnefoy', and 'Gilbert Beilschmidt'?" he read.

"Yes, allow me to enlighten you as you read, Romulus." Arthur took a sip from his tea before settling it down. "Antonio Carriedo is a famous hacker. He is known on the internet as the 'Red Pirate.' He's hacked into websites, computers, laptops, he can even steal money from ATMs. What's worse is that he can hack into anyone's account and use it to his advantage. We could never trace the guy down since whenever we have a lead, the web address leads us to the houses of the people whose accounts he's used. He may seem like a bumbling idiot from the outside, but on the inside, he's a web genius."

Lovino stared at the picture of Antonio. A look of disgust came on his face. "That's the bastard that I had to serve today!"

"Anyway, next is Gilbert Beilschmidt," Arthur continued. "He used to be in the American army along with his brother, Ludwig Beilschmidt. Whenever we tried to asked Mr. Beischmidt about his brother, he declines to accept him as his brother but as nothing more than a stranger on the street. He simply refuses to talk about Gilbert. From what we gathered, Gilbert is an amazing assassin that can use just about any weapon you give him. He's great at hand-to-hand combat as well. He left the army when he claimed he was 'too awesome to be with equal ranks as those losers,' just to put it in his own words. He fights anyone that dares challenge him. He became a criminal when he took down seven cops single-handed, and he enjoyed it.

"And last, but _certainly_ not the least, is Francis Bonnefoy." Arthur glared at the picture with distaste as he began describing his arch nemesis to Romulus. "He's wanted even by the cops back in France. He's famous for his disguises and the ability to change his voice into anyone's, even make one off the top of his head. He's a top-class robber. He likes stealing money and hearts, but mostly money. He's a pretty nomadic person, always living on the run. He never stays put and always hiding. His clever disguises always sneak past the guards. And it doesn't help that he was raised in a damn circus. He's pretty flexible, and his acrobatic skills make it almost impossible to touch him. He's also probably slept with every woman in Paris, so there's that."

"You seem to hate him more than the others, officer," Romulus noted.

Arthur sighed and nodded. "Indeed. Back when I was in England, he was one of the cases I had to deal with when he was still doing robberies in Europe. He's a real pain in the arse, if you ask me."

"So how did these three men meet?" Romulus asked as he put down the final folder.

"That is a story for later, but for now..." Arthur placed his elbows on the table and his chin on his hands, "I'd like to know _your_ story."

"Alright," Romulus agreed. He leaned back on his chair as he tried to remember the past events. "It all happened a couple of hours ago..."

* * *

**A/N:** This was fun to write! I'll have to admit, this chapter has been sitting in my files for a while since I was debating whether or not I should post it. I suck with chapter stories since I can't seem to finish them, leaving them in hiatus for a very long time, then I just drop it entirely.

I've had this idea for months now, and I can't believe I'm just posting this story now. School is weeks away, and I'm not sure if there will be a regular update time. All you need to know is this:

I'll only upload a new chapter when the next-next chapter has been written. For example, I just finished writing chapter 3, and in order for me to upload chapter 2, I have to finish writing chapter 4. Get the idea? How long the chapter will take to write depends on my schedule. Some take weeks due to school/family/writer's block, others could take days or even hours, depending on how imaginative I am feeling.

I also feel really happy that I actually drew the story's cover art! Usually, I draw on a piece of paper, scan it into my computer, then draw it on my drawing application. The rose was surprisingly easy, even with drawing it from scratch!

**I'd really appreciate it if you review my story! It encourages me to get off of my lazy ass and start writing these things. I also like reading your opinions on how I could make this better!**

See you next chapter~

-Purple


	2. The Robbery

September 19, 2014  
8:08 PM

* * *

Antonio entered the café. Except, he looked a little different. Using Francis's amazing disguising skills, Antonio's hair was now slicked back, wore blue contacts, and had glasses on. He set up himself in the farthest corner of the café, next to the window. He sat down and immediately turned on his laptop.

"Welcome to Cafe Famiglia. How may I help you today?" asked an irritable voice. Antonio looked up and saw a man with brown hair and a strange curl sticking out. He wore a waiter's outfit, although he seemed to want to take it off. His green-brown eyes bore into Antonio's now-blue ones. "Are you going to order something or what?" he asked again.

"Oh, uh. I'd like a coffee, please," Antonio answered back.

"Okay," the waiter quickly scribbled the order on a notepad. "Anything else?"

"That's it, uh..." Antonio looked at the man, who started to turn red, "What's your name?"

"It's Lovino, you bastard," the man added harshly.

"Oh, okay." Antonio gave Lovino a warm smile. "That would be all, Lovi!"

Lovino turned red. "H-Hey, d-don't call me that! You bastard..." He started muttering curses in what Antonio assumed to be Italian and he walked away.

_Wow, he looked so cute,_ Antonio thought, _he was as red as a tomato! _The bell to the doors rang. Antonio looked up from his laptop once more and saw a woman walk through the door. The woman had brown hair tied in a French bun, and she wore a beautiful dress and a white fur coat placed over it. Her indigo eyes met Antonio's now-blue ones. The woman winked at him, and Antonio had to stifle his laugh. The woman caught Antonio's chuckle and glared at him. After Antonio calmed down, he went back to his laptop. _Man_, Antonio thought, _Francis can really pull off being a girl!_

Francis walked up to the counter to order his snack, and at the same time try to seduce the man on the counter. Putting on a sweet look on his face, he walked up to the cashier man. Francis made a very convincing woman, so he caught the man's eyes immediately.

"Hello there, my good sir," Francis muttered, trying his best to imitate a woman's voice. He did it perfectly, as usual. "I'd like to buy one cappuccino and a croissant, please." He batted his eyes at the man. The man blushed and punched in his order on the machine.

"Will that be all, miss?" the man asked dreamily. Francis nodded his head and smiled. "Oh, okay. That would be $5.67." Francis turned around and drew out his wallet from his bag. He noticed the man check him out as he did so._ Just as I planned_, Francis thought. When Francis turned back to the man, he noticed some flyers on the counter. It read, 'White House Masquerade.' He smirked and took several, placing it in his bag for later.

"So, uh, I take it you're new in town? I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you before," the man teased. "My name's Romulus, and I'm the owner of this café. What's you're name?"

"My name is Francine," Francis replied. "And yes, I did just move here. I'm from France, actually."

"France, eh? I'm European myself! I was born and raised in Rome." Romulus winked at Francis.

"I see. That's why you have such an Italian charm." Francis smiled at Romulus, and the man rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. The people behind him that had formed a line were yelling at Francis for holding the line. "I guess I got to go, Romulus. Why don't you come over by my table and we can have a proper chat. Just you and me." Francis placed his hand on top of Romulus. With one last glance, he walked back to a table next to Antonio. Antonio was giggling like a mad man.

When Francis reached the corner Antonio was at, he sat behind him. He grabbed onto Antonio's neck tie and dragged him under the table when no one was looking. Antonio pretty much lost it. "_Dios mio_, you sounded like a girl! And you acted like one, too!" he laughed uncontrollably. Francis shushed him.

"Keep it down!" Francis warned. "You're going to attract attention. Anyway, any news about the cameras or Gilbert?" The two of them fixed themselves back up, and Antonio looked into his computer.

"Well, there are security cameras all over the place, but it's nothing I can't hack into. I'm actually doing that as we speak." Antonio tapped on his keyboard as Francis stared in confusion. He never fully understood how this bumbling idiot could've become a high-class hacker. He presented his laptop to Francis and showed him his progress.

Francis stared at it, dumbfounded. "Of the years we've been together, I still can't believe you're smarter than both Gilbert and I combined," he stated plainly.

"... Eh?" Francis face-palmed. "Oh, and about Gilbert, he's coming in as soon as you come back down from the man's room. He has the equipment needed for the distraction. And, if we're lucky and quick enough, we could take some money from the cashier, too. So, it's all up to you to get the code. And here, where these as soon as you get upstairs. Good luck!" Antonio gave Francis an earpiece and a thumbs up before Francis left to another table across the room.

Francis sat at a table next to window. When he noticed Romulus coming towards him, he turned away and looked through the window dreamily. "_Ciao, belle_~" Romulus said as he sat across from Francis. He placed a tray of cappuccino, croissant, and gelato.

"I don't mean to be harsh, but I don't remember ordering gelato," Francis said to Romulus. The man only smiled.

"It's on the house!" he shouted cheerfully. "So, what does a French girl like you want in America, eh?" The two started to eat the gelato, and they each eat half of the croissant. Francis had to admit, they were both really good.

"I just wanted to get out of Europe and experience life here as an American. How about you? How long have you been in America?" Romulus leaned back on his chair and stared dreamily into space.

"Honestly, it wasn't my idea to leave Italy. My eldest grandson wanted out of Rome as soon as possible. He convinced me that America would be a good place to stay. We've been living here for about..." Romulus thought for a while, "five years? Yeah, we've been ling here for five years."

Francis knew his intention was to get the code to the safe, but he was interested as to why Romulus' grandson wanted to leave Italy so hastily. "Why did your grandson want to leave Rome?"

"I have an idea... but it's a pretty personal opinion between us at the Vargas family. We just don't talk about it anymore. So, we found a nice little building here in New York, made the first floor a café and the second floor our rooms."

"Hm." Francis had to admit, he was a little dissatisfied with Romulus' answer. "Anyway, this food is great! You must make a lot of money from your job here at the café."

"Ah, indeed! But I don't trust the bankers here in America. Call me selfish, but I'd like to hold onto my money." Francis chuckled.

"How do you keep so much money in one place? Isn't it dangerous?"

"I don't leave all of my money here. I have just about a couple hundred in a safe I have in my room, and the rest I give to a bank that I _trust_. I don't usually touch the money in the safe, since it's for emergencies only."

"I see. I take it you have a very special code to your safe?"

"Well, the code to my safe is a very special date, the day my grandsons and I left for America." Francis laughed at how easy it was to get the code out of Romulus. He guessed that Romulus would never think that a beautiful woman like 'Francine' would break into his precious safe. Or into the cash register.

"Anyway, I need to go and pamper myself at the restroom. Thank you for the wonderful food, Romulus." Francis stood up. As if on cue, Antonio packed up his things into a briefcase and made his way to the only restroom in the café. Romulus noticed Antonio just as planned.

"It seems that the restroom is taken. Please, take the one upstairs, just go through the door to the right and the restroom should be on the left." Francis nodded and continued his way to the room upstairs. He inwardly chuckled at how gullible Romulus was and how the plan fell perfectly in place.

As soon as Francis was upstairs, he put on the earpiece Antonio gave to him earlier. "Hello?" Francis whispered into the earrings. There was a sound of static at first, but then someone responded.

"Franny? Are you upstairs?" the familiar voice of Antonio came from the earpiece.

"Duh, that's why I'm talking to you, remember?" Francis face-palmed.

"Sorry, I just forgot. Anyway, figure out the code to the safe yet?" Antonio asked.

"I didn't get the exact code, but I have enough information for you to find it." Francis replied. "Find the date when Romulus Vargas left Italy for America."

"Alright then, Franny." Francis could here typing coming from the other end of the call. "Found it! It was on the 21st of August, 2009."

"_Merci_, Toni." Francis crouched in front a painting. He removed the painting off the wall, revealing the tiny safe which was built into the room's wall. He punched in the numbers 21, 8, and 09 in different orders on the keypad until the safe finally opened. As Romulus had said, there was about a couple hundred dollars inside the safe. Francis reached to the very back of the safe and swept all the cash into his bag. Now that the safe was empty, he left a little something inside it for later. He stood up, placed back the painting, and noticed a security camera at the corner near the safe. He waved to the camera and lifted up the bag full of money.

Antonio smiled as he watched Francis raise the bag in victory. He had left the cafe's restroom when he was sure Francis was already upstairs. _Yet another successful robbery,_ he thought.

"Excuse me." Antonio turned to the familiar voice and saw the waiter staring down at him. Antonio nearly jumped from his seat at the sight of the man. "What the hell are you doing?" Lovino asked. Antonio's quick reflex saved him as he quickly closed down the tab where he was watching Francis from.

"Um, I was doing my work," was Antonio's only reply. Lovino looked at him skeptically.

"It didn't seem like work. What do you do anyway?" he asked.

"I program websites and I do some coding." Antonio technically didn't lie. Except, by 'program' and 'coding,' he really meant hacking.

"Sounds boring." Lovino shot back.

"It's pretty fun once you get used to it." Antonio smiled at Lovino. The younger man blushed.

"Whatever. Here's your coffee, you bastard." Lovino placed down the coffee he was holding and walked away.

As Antonio watched the Italian man walk away, Francis came back down the stairs. He grinned at Antonio, and Antonio grinned back. Then, Romulus came up to Francis and the two began chatting. As soon as Romulus left Francis alone, Francis walked up to Antonio. Antonio kicked a bag towards him, and Francis picked it up. Francis then threw his bag filled with money to Antonio. Francis walked calmly to the restroom to change. There was _no_ _way_ he was going to run away from a robbery in heals.

Now it was time for a distraction from Gilbert. He leaned toward the window he was sitting next to. Leaning against the window on the other side was a man with black hair and brown eyes. Antonio knocked on the glass in a pattern, and the man looked down at him. Antonio gave him a thumbs up, and the man smirked. The man walked into the café and slowly, and intimidatingly, made his way to the register. The young man at the counter started to freak out as the man came closer and closer to the counter.

The man looked at the poor Italian at the cash register. He grinned. "Boo."

And the lights went out.

The man, who was actually Gilbert in disguise, ducked behind the counter and pushed the young cashier man out of the way. With a push of a button on the cash register, it opened revealing some money. Gilbert quickly stuffed as much money as he can into his bag and stood up. At this point, the emergency generator kicked in and the lights were all back on. The people at the café gasped in surprise as Gilbert took off his wig, revealing his messy white hair.

"It's him!"

"It's Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

"We're being robbed!"

"That's the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt to you, oh lowly one!" Gilbert gloated. "Let's go, guys, before the cops show up." Francis emerged from the bathroom, dressed normally and makeup all washed away. Antonio also stood from his seat. He messed up his hair, took off his annoying contacts and glasses, and stood next to Gilbert.

"Hold on a second!" Romulus came to the entrance of the café. "I'm not letting you go anywhere!" With one glance from his friends, Gilbert smirked before throwing down a smoke pellet on the floor.

The doors to the café busted open, allowing the three men to escape into the darkness of the night.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, I cheated a bit in my chapter system. I haven't finished Chapter 4 yet, but I'm at 1,000 words already so I might as well post this now. I got so far ahead into that chapter, but my computer screwed up and lost about half of it. That brought me down, but it wasn't enough to stop me! Then again, writing the entire best part in Chapter 4 from scratch was painstakingly hard, considering it was really good (in my opinion) in the first place.

I've recently been addicted to Game Dev Tycoon, finishing the game in 2 days. The thing's addictive, and brought me to a halt in writing this stuff. But I'm taking advantage of this time to post this for you guys.

Speaking of which, you guys are the best ;-; 4 reviews, 5 favs, and 8 follows?! Damn, I'm very happy. Thanks you guys! You're the best :3 I've had this plot in my head for a while, even making a series out of it! The fact that you guys are reviewing/favoriting/following makes me smile :D

_Question for this Chappie: What could the Vargas family be hiding? Find out in future chapters (maybe)!_

**I'd really appreciate it if you review my story! It encourages me to get off of my lazy ass and start writing these things. I also like reading your opinions on how I could make this better!**

See you next chapter~

-Purple


	3. Investigation Underway

September 20, 2014  
6:00 AM

* * *

Alfred jolted from his bed and rolled down the floor the moment his alarm went off. He knew he should have never stayed up until 3 AM, but he couldn't help the fact he was so excited about today. He tried to stay awake all night, but sometime during reading his comics, he fell asleep. But today was a big day, and he had to admit, it was his fault that he stayed up real late. Now he has to pay the consequences.

Alfred groggily stood up from his position on the floor and began walking downstairs to the kitchen. In the kitchen was the usual sight. His dad reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee in his hand. His mother eating her omelette next to him. And finally his brother in the kitchen cooking some pancakes.

"Good morning, Mr. Sunshine. You're looking quite fine today," his brother said sarcastically. He came out of the kitchen with a fresh batch of pancakes. He placed it on the dinner table and sat next to their mother. "Alfred, what time did you sleep last night?"

Alfred froze in place as he made his way to sit across his brother. "What does it matter to you?" Alfred asked suspiciously as he slid into his chair.

The other twin merely crossed his arms, his face looking to say 'Seriously?' "Well, I heard you blasting rock music until 12 last night."

"Y-You heard that...?" Alfred asked innocently as he shrunk into his seat.

"Al, I'm pretty sure everyone heard it." Alfred's parents nodded their head in agreement. Alfred grinned sheepishly as his brother sighed. "Honestly, Al, you should sleep at 11, like you're _supposed_ to."

"Who are you, my mother?" Alfred turned to his actual mother, "No offense, mom."

Their mother merely waved it off. "None taken, dear."

"Aw, come on, Matthew! Alfred here was just excited about today, that's all!" Their father beamed as he stood to ruffle up Alfred's hair. "I mean, aren't you excited about today, too?"

"Yeah! Dad's right, Mattie!"

Matthew shared a look of defeat. "Dad's always on your side..." He whispered to himself.

"Anyway kids, after you finish breakfast, get cleaned up and meet me at the car," their father ordered as he went to get some more coffee.

"Okay, dad," the kids agreed in unison. Both of them quickly ate their pancakes, took a shower (not together, of course), and got changed. The twins walked downstairs, clad in police uniforms. Their mother, who was in the kitchen washing the dishes, hugged her kids before they left the house.

"Oh, one more thing you two." The brothers turned around to look at their mother. "Could you guys do the groceries for me? I've got a gig tonight and I'm afraid your father is to busy with his case to do any shopping either."

"S-Sure, mom," Matthew agreed. Their mother gave Matthew a slip of paper listing all the items they were to buy. "Um, anyway, see you later, mom."

"Good luck, boys!" They waved goodbye to their mother as they rode in their father's car; Alfred sat in front while Matthew sat in the back.

**:::**

"Listen up boys, the detective will be here any minute now. I suggest you listen to whatever he says and follow his orders, alright? As for me, I got another case to worry about, so call me when you're ready to go home. Anyways, good luck with your first case, boys!" And with that, Alfred and Matthew's father drove away from the cafe they stood at.

As of right now, the cafe was closed to the public for investigation. It confused Matthew. Why would they need to close the cafe? Don't they already know who the robbers are? Aren't they going to track them down? As Matthew began questioning the reason as to why they were here, he heard something from behind him. As he turned, he saw that Alfred had walked right under the police tape and began looking around the cafe.

"Alfred, you're not supposed to be in there! We have to wait for the detective, remember?" Matthew scolded his twin.

"Aw come on, Matt. You're such a buzz kill. I'm doing my job," Alfred replied back as he continued to survey the area.

"Alfred, you're going to get into deep trouble if you don't get back out here before the detective comes!"

"I'm afraid I'm already here." Matthew and Alfred swiftly turned to see the one who spoke. It was a man with messy dirty blonde hair, evergreen eyes, and strangely large eyebrows. "And you know, tampering with the evidence is a criminal offense." Alfred slowly placed down the fallen chair he had been holding. "Good. I see that you both are here? Excellent, we can get this started then."

"Um, I have a question," Matthew looked at the detective with nervousness. He was always shy, but this question was really bugging him ever since they got here. "Why are we here?"

"Ah, Matthew Williams, right? Well, Mr. Williams, this is the scene of the crime," Arthur replied simply.

"I know, it's just that..." Matthew debated whether or not to ask. After all, he's questioning his superior. "Don't we already know who we're after? Why do we need to check this place out for evidence?"

"Hmm, you're getting a little ahead of yourself there, Mr. Williams. I'll explain it all later. For now, come inside with me." Arthur walked under the tape, joining Alfred on the other side. Matthew followed.

"Oh, and just call me Matthew. Please." Matthew was uncomfortable when it came to people calling him by his last name. After all, he's still pretty young.

"Okay, _Matthew_. You're a very observing man, and I like that. I already know that I'll enjoy working with you."

"Just cut to the chase, Sherlock!" Alfred said excitedly, albeit kind of impatiently. Arthur shot Alfred an annoying look.

"Well then, my name is Arthur Kirkland. But please, feel free to call me Arthur-"

"Can I call you 'Artie?'" Alfred questioned. Matthew face palmed.

"No, you may not call me by that name." Arthur was already annoyed by him. "Anyway, I am sure you already did your homework for this case."

As Matthew nodded, only Alfred looked confused. "Dude, nobody told me about the homework."

"He means if you researched about the case," Matthew clarified, looking dumbfounded by his brother. Alfred's puzzled expression turned into a look of enlightenment.

"Ohhh, that's what you meant. Yup, I did my homework alright!"

Arthur stared at Matthew, as if to say: 'Is he really your brother?' Matthew only shrugged. "Um, you're Alfred F. Jones, I presume?"

"You got that right! But feel free to call me Alfred or Al."

"I think I'll stick to Alfred..."

"Whatever. It's your opinion, dude."

After a few moments of being astounded by Alfred's stupidity, Arthur straightened himself and cleared his throat. "Anyway, you are familiar with who Gilbert Beilschmidt, Antonio Carriedo, and Francis Bonnefoy are then, of course?" The twins nodded. "Good, that means I don't have to explain as much.

"As you may or may not know, this is Cafe Famiglia, where the robbery took place. Not much can be found here, as the trio of bandits can get in and out of a crime without leaving too much. As for your question, Matthew, I am about to answer it. We're here to find clues as to where the bandits will strike next."

"How sure are you that they would leave something as crucial as their next target at their previous crimes?" Matthew asked, and Arthur gave a look a surprise.

"I can see you becoming a great detective someday, Matthew. You see, a few years ago, the Trio realized that taking from people was too easy. So they decided to give us police some clues to their next victims. It's to give us some sort of 'boost.' At first we were skeptical about it, but when we came to confirm that it wasn't a trap, they did in fact rob the bank as foretold."

"So, they're kinda like making it harder for them?" Alfred asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Exactly like that. A good example would be the two previous robberies. In Florida, Antonio Carriedo, the Trio's hacker, found an interesting article about an ancient artifact being found in Egypt that was being shipped to the Smithsonian for display. So, he decided to hack into the Kennedy Space Center's website and filled the home page with the article. A few months later, in D.C., Gilbert Beischmidt found an ad for Cafe Famiglia in the newspaper. So he taped the article to one of the Smithsonian's security cameras. Get the idea?"

"So all we need to do now is look for the clue they left here for us?" Matthew questioned.

Arthur nodded. "The place is still the same as last night; the owner and his two grandsons slept in a hotel. So everything should be where it was."

And with that, the trio split up to search the cafe; Matthew and Arthur searched the main cafe area, while Alfred searched the second floor. Arthur investigated the corner where Antonio sat before he could hack into the security cameras. He lifted up the couch cushions and looked under tables to find nothing of interest. Matthew searched behind the counter, peering into the open cash register in hopes of finding a clue that was maybe dropped in.

Alfred didn't get into it as much as the other two. He got pretty bored, searching through the rooms and such. He wasn't really trying, hoping the other two will find something downstairs. Instead, he remembered all those James Bond movies he and his dad always watched. He imagined himself as one of those spies who were creeping around, all stealth-like. As he walked into the master's bedroom, he noticed that one of the paintings was hanging crookedly. He thought about the typical spy movie cliche of there being a safe behind a painting. Just for fun, Alfred took the painting off the wall.

And lo and behold, there was actually a safe behind it.

Alfred stared at the safe for a moment, then suddenly the door to the safe very slowly opened. Not wanting to wait any longer, Alfred swung the safe right open. It was pretty empty, aside from the flyer and the rose that was inside. Alfred reached in for it, then remembered what Arthur told him about 'tampering the evidence.' Instead, Alfred decided to run down the stairs and alert his new team about the safe.

"Hey guys, I found something!" he yelled. Matthew and Arthur looked up at Alfred, faces in disbelief. How could this bumbling idiot find the clue before they did? They followed Alfred up the stairs and into the master's bedroom, seeing the safe wide open.

Arthur peered into the safe, seeing the flyer and the rose. His face fell, whispering a silent 'bloody hell' as he took the items out of the safe. "'White House Masquerade?' You mean the party the President's holding for Halloween?" Matthew asked in surprise. Arthur nodded as a dark expression came on his face.

"Dude, they can't be _this_ crazy, can they? I mean, this is the _White House_ we're talking about. That place is almost impossible to get into with authorization!" Alfred exclaimed.

Arthur turned to the two, a serious look on his face. "I'm afraid they can be that crazy, Alfred. We're talking about an ex-mercenary, a genius hacker, and a cross dressing circus performer here. They may be a small group, but as they say, 'big things come in small packages...' But still, how do they plan on robbing the President anyway?"

"Do they even have the right equipment? Are they prepared for this scheme?" Matthew questioned. '_This case is bigger than we thought..._'

"Well, the ball is about a month from now, so they might be able to gear up for then..." Arthur felt his heart race. He wasn't sure why he was nervous. They're just a trio of bandits, facing against the President's many guards. Maybe he wasn't scared of _who_ they are...

But of what they could _do_.

"Hmm... If I were a bandit planning to rob the White House, what would I do?" Alfred thought out loud, his face looking puzzled. Arthur snapped back to reality and thought about what Alfred said. '_If I were planning to break into the White House, what _would_ I do?_'

"I'd say get better equipment. If they're planning to use the gear they have now to break into the White House, they'll never succeed," Matthew suggested.

Suddenly, something in Arthur's mind clicked. "Well, Matthew, what kind of equipment would you get to break into the White House?" Arthur questioned, a large smirk on his face.

"Uh..." Matthew thought for a moment, "military gear, I guess. They're best fit for breaking into high tech bases such as the White House, right?"

Alfred placed his hands on his hips, looking skeptically at his brother. "But wouldn't that mean that they would have to break into a military base? Do they have equipment for that?" For once in his life, Alfred actually had a point.

"If I were to guess from the footage of last night's robbery, it seems that Carriedo's laptop is pretty standard. I don't think he'll be able to break into a military base with that old thing," Matthew replied. The twins stared at each other for while, before realizing what they had just said. With both the twins' eyes wide in surprise, they turned to see Arthur, the largest grin on his face.

"Well, there you have it, boys!" Arthur said triumphantly. "We've found a track, and now we follow it. So, we've established that in order to break into the White House, they would need military gear. But in order to get those, they'll need to upgrade the equipment they have now. Now we just need to find out where they'll get this equipment."

Alfred's face seemed to light up in joy, and he raised his hand like a student in school. "Oh, I know! I know!"

Arthur looked at Alfred, a little annoyed. "Well, Alfred, where will they get this equipment?"

Alfred stuck out his chest in pride. "It's obvious. They'll get it from the greatest source of electronics known to man...

"Best Buy."

* * *

**A/N:** *claps* You're a freaking genius, Alfred.

Dear god, how long has it been? School really got in the way this time, but not now for I have overcome writer's block and finally finished a chapter!

But seriously, sorry for such a long wait guys... My friend read this story then told me to continue it, and if I didn't she would endlessly bug me about it until school ends. I hope you've been sticking with this story for this long, and if you have you deserve a cookie, a medal, and a really big hug.

Just as a warning, Chapter 4 is reaaaaaaally short since that was the chapter that didn't save correctly and I forgot most of what it had before. Plus had I gone on with it, it would've have been really long this time so I split into half so I could get this chapter up.

Anyways, that's all for now.

**I'd really appreciate it if you review my story! It encourages me to get off of my lazy ass and start writing these things. I also like reading your opinions on how I could make this better!**

See you next chapter~

-Purple


	4. Nighttime Fighting

September 20, 2014  
5:03 PM

* * *

The trio walked out of the cafe, happy that they knew where those criminals would strike next. Even Arthur was proud of Alfred for finding the clue, and bringing up a good point. And though Matthew didn't know how he would do in the crime business, he was glad to fit in with his new team. The sun was setting, the bright blue sky would soon turn into an inky violet night, and the three were about ready to go home for the day.

"It was nice working with you two, and I can't wait to work with you again," Arthur said, heaving a grateful sigh.

"It was an honor, detective," Matthew replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Alfred butted in. "Anyway, I gotta call dad so we could get a ride home."

"I could bring you boys home if you'd like," Arthur offered.

Before Alfred could make a mean remark, Matthew stopped him. "Uh, we're fine. You don't have to do that."

"Please, I really don't mind. Think of it as a 'thank you' for being so great today," Arthur, not wanting to hear any complaints, opened the door to his car. The smile on his face was warm, yet unsettling, as if he would murder someone if they didn't accept his offer.

The twins wisely chose to accept Arthur's offer and began walking to his car. Alfred sat in front with Arthur after calling 'shotgun,' so Matthew had to sit in the back. The trip back home mainly consisted of Alfred annoying Arthur, who regretted bringing them home and threatened to crash the car multiple times. Matthew tried to get Alfred to quiet down, but was ignored. Luckily, they came back home without any accidents (although Arthur did swerve sometimes to scare Alfred.)

The moment Alfred came into their house, he took of his pants. He was home, no rules and no one to judge him. Well, maybe Matthew, but he was used to it.

"Alfred, please keep your underwear on at least. I don't want your... Florida... hanging around," Matthew told.

Alfred snickered at his brother. "'Florida.' Hehe... I like that. Good one, bro. Next time I see a chick I'll ask her if she wants a trip to 'Florida.'" Matthew watched with a deadpanned expression as Alfred gleefully skipped upstairs to his room. Matthew sighed as he plopped himself down on the couch. He had this feeling that he was forgetting something.

As Matthew fixed himself on the couch, he heard something crumple in his back pocket. He reached in, only to pull out a crumpled piece of paper. At first, he felt like throwing it away, then something clicked in his mind. '_Right, I need to run some errands for mom,_' he remembered. He walked upstairs, hoping to get Alfred to join with him; he didn't trust him enough to leave home alone. Opening the door to Alfred's room, Matthew saw his brother completely immersed in the game he was playing. Matthew left, knowing it would be near impossible to break Alfred's attention from his screen.

Matthew entered his room to change out of his police uniform. Unlike Alfred's room, which was a complete mess and almost completely devoid of light, save for the light emitting from his TV or computer screen, Matthew's room was neat and clean most of the time. He put on a red sweater over his plain white t-shirt, matching with the red Converse shoes he wore. He grabbed the house keys from the kitchen counter and left the house.

Parked outside the house was Alfred's motorcycle. He got it for his 18th birthday and drove it whenever he had the chance. Matthew knew he couldn't drive something like that, not because he didn't know how, but because Alfred didn't trust him with his 'precious baby.' Matthew didn't mind for today, though. The market wasn't too far from their home, so he could easily go there on foot. After walking out of the driveway, Matthew began his walk to the store.

**:::**

After buying the groceries, Matthew proceeded to walk home. It was late, and the sky was already an inky blue. He decided to take a shortcut back home, a little trick Alfred showed him when they went grocery shopping together that one time. It was an abandoned part of town; no one really lives or works there anymore. People usually avoid it since there were rumors of ghosts or gangs that like to hang out there. It seemed empty enough, so Matthew decided to quickly move through it to cut back some time.

Suddenly behind him, there was movement. Matthew quickly turned around, squinting in the darkness. When he decided the coast was clear, he carried on, walking a little faster. He heard footsteps behind him, so Matthew picked up the pace, walking even faster. The figure sped up as well, clearly following Matthew through the abandoned area. He took a quick peek over his shoulder, only to see a large man following him. Matthew began to run as fast as he can.

Then suddenly he was pushed into an alley.

The force took him by surprise, almost knocking the wind out of him. Matthew stumbled into the back alley, dropping his groceries in the process. As Matthew fixed himself up, he saw three people walk into the alley with him. They were tall with broad shoulders and rugged features. Matthew's extincts kicked in, and he moved his hand to his side. He then cursed himself, realizing that he left his police gear at home. After all, who would anticipate an attack when you're making a quick jog to the store?

"Where do ya think you're goin', doll face?" asked one of the men. He was obviously the leader. The way he carried himself demanded respect from others. "I don't know if ya know this, but this is our turf. We can't have people like you's runnin' around like ya own the place. We better show you what happens when you fool around in our territory."

"Look, I don't want to hurt you," Matthew said, trying to intimidate them. Oh, who was he kidding. He wouldn't hurt a fly, even if that fly annoyed him so much. But that didn't mean he couldn't. He slugged through police training, somehow passing with flying colors along with his ever-so athletic brother. He could put up a fight, but only if he really needed to.

"Aww, that's adorable. He think's he can fight us," the leader said mockingly. He and his goons started to laugh.

"You better watch out, boss! Don't let him catch ya off guard!" one of the henchmen told jokingly.

"Yeah, you should put up your dukes, boss!" the other agreed. Their boss complied and raised his fists.

"Come on, doll face. Show us what you got-" The leader stumbled backwards into his henchmen's arms when Matthew delivered a direct hit to his face. Matthew shook the numbness out of his hand, looking worriedly at the man.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hit so hard!" Matthew apologized. The henchmen helped their boss to his feet as he fixed his jaw. A dark look came upon his face as he cracked his knuckles.

"Oho, _now_ you're going to get it."

* * *

**A/N: **Is this soon enough for you guys? Sorry for another long wait. I've been really busy lately. I kinda have to devote my life to drumline now ;w;

**Please favorite and review! It helps me to know what you think about my story.**

See you next chapter~

-Purple


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